


dust in the wind

by girlsarewolves



Series: we are made of star stuff [1]
Category: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Cinematic Universe, Man of Steel (2013), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Childbirth, Female-Centric, Gen, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-08
Updated: 2016-04-08
Packaged: 2018-06-01 02:39:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6497578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlsarewolves/pseuds/girlsarewolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Make a better world than us, Kal," she says, a week after she sends her son out into the stars and watches the life leave her husband's eyes. She is alone in these final moments; she dies with her world, no records left to find. But she dies a scientist, a wife, a mother. She dies - but she lived.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dust in the wind

**Author's Note:**

> I told myself I wouldn't start another WIP. So instead I'm starting a multi-chapter 'collection' of unrelated one-shots set in the same canon. Totally different, right? I wanted to do something for the ladies of the DCEU, especially since I have a lot of feels about Lara and Faora and Mercy and, well, all the women really. Right now I'm just planning to write one ficlet for each lady, but some might get more than that. I'll add any warnings needed with each chapter.
> 
> Feedback is greatly appreciated!

* * *

It is Jor El's idea, his plan - but it is Lara who makes it happen. All he has are hopes and dreams - a vision of ( _heresy_ ) a way to save their world - until she agrees.  
  
She is terrified. Part of her thinks that maybe the end is not coming that fast, it cannot be. Maybe they can live their lives and help prepare the next generation to save Krypton. But she knows those thoughts are cowardly; selfish. More selfish than Lara can willingly be.  
  
The data doesn't lie. The end is fast approaching, and though she is terrified of what will happen, she would rather die with Krypton knowing she did all she could to save it than live a lie to the bitter end.  
  
Pregnancy is a mystery to her. There are only a few records kept from when natural birth was allowed on their world. She is a scientist, though, and so she looks on it as an experiment; she has to, otherwise she will be overwhelmed.  
  
A life is inside of her. A life created from her and Jor, made through love and devotion. To each other, to Krypton, their people and culture.  
  
When she begins to show and must be sequestered away from suspicious eyes, she devotes herself to studying how her body changes; how the child develops. She makes a record of everything. Part of her wonders what the purpose even is - her records will be lost with Krypton. But she is a scientist, and for the last few months of carrying this child to term, she is lonely and frightened. Her body and mind and emotions are turned against her in ways she never comprehended, and she must do something to console herself.  
  
Jor tries to help, but he finds he is as lost as she is. He knows how to keep her healthy in body, what to watch out for in her or the baby that could warn of any complications, but this is as new and foreign and strange to him as it is to her.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lara," he tells her once, in the eighth month when she is in bed more than on her feet, and the day of birthing is so close she wants it done with - yet also wants it to never come.  
  
She smiles and shakes her head. "I said yes. For Krypton. For us. I still stand by my decision, no matter what fear might have me think or say."  
  
The day comes when she gives birth to a son. It is the second time she has broken the law, and though it is more painful than the first time, she is awed by the sight of their child in Jor's hands. The pain is immense, and she can barely think - but she gladly takes the boy when Jor lays him in her arms.  
  
"Kal," she whispers. She wonders how she can record the emotions racing through her, how she can convey the swell of love she feels. She is now a scientist and a wife and a mother.  
  
And she will die all three before he has even lived a year outside of her womb.  
  
Lara is terrified, and she thinks - briefly - perhaps the data was wrong. Perhaps the end is not so near. She holds Kal and wants to hold him always, hear his first words and witness his first steps, make a record of everything. But that is selfish. The data does not lie.  
  
When Zod looks her dead in the eye and tells her not to launch the ship, she is made of iron resolve. Their world is dying, and still their people are fighting for control. Krypton has been dying inside and out, and she looks to Jor's eyes as her fingers signal the take off.  
  
She will let go. She will send her son to Earth, and she prays he will be free of the flaws in their bloodlines that have led to this.  
  
"Make a better world than us, Kal," she says, a week after she sends her son out into the stars and watches the life leave her husband's eyes. She is alone in these final moments; she dies with her world, no records left to find. But she dies a scientist, a wife, a mother. She dies - but she _lived_.

**Author's Note:**

> ETA: So, I'm changing this from a multi-collection to just a series. because the /? weighs on me with the rest of my unfinished stories welp. also the title for this specific one-shot is from the Kansas song of the same title cause I lack subtly.


End file.
